Hearings sought on gaming plan in Worcester

The chairman of the City Council Economic Development Committee is calling for public hearings in response to a gaming operator’s desire to seek a state slot parlor license for the city.

Councilor-at-Large Frederick C. Rushton said public hearings would give city residents an opportunity to provide input on what they would like to see included in any host-community agreement negotiated with the city for the slots parlor, should it become reality.

The host-community agreement would include measures to mitigate any impacts there might be to the surrounding neighborhood where the slots parlor is built and in the city as a whole.

“We need to hear from the community about this first and foremost,” Mr. Rushton said. “The bottom line is that any host-community agreement that might be negotiated without first talking to the community would be inherently flawed.

“It’s not an overstatement to realize that all the progress we’ve engineered as a city can disappear if we allow Mass Gaming to do what it wants,” he added. “The crux of the matter is that gaming could be coming here and we need to be prepared.”

Mr. Rushton Thursday filed an order for next week’s City Council meeting, asking his colleagues to have the Economic Development Committee hold public hearings concerning the potential host-community agreement for a slots parlor in the city being pursued by Mass Gaming and Entertainment LLC.

The order, which is co-sponsored by several other councilors, also asks City Manager Michael V. O’Brien to assist in the process by making available for the hearings appropriate departmental resources, such as legal, economic, law enforcement and public works.

It encourages the city manager to invite to the hearings any other stakeholders he feels are appropriate.

Mr. Rushton said he does not have a set number of hearings he would like to see held. But he pointed out that the city could be facing a rather compressed time period and, as a result, he would like to see the hearings begin sooner rather than later.

“It’s a pretty fluid process,” he said. “If it takes one or 10 hearings, we are going to make sure we get community input on this.”

Mr. O’Brien confirmed Wednesday that Mass Gaming and Entertainment, a subsidiary of Rush Gaming of Chicago, has notified his office and is notifying state licensing officials it will seek a slot license for a site in Worcester.

The manager said potential sites have been discussed but without specifics, and discussions among the parties have been open, honest and candid.

Mr. Rushton said the city manager will be a critical component to this process because he will be the one who negotiates a local mitigation package with the developer of the slot parlor.

The mitigation package would include things like agreements on traffic improvements and traffic patterns and impacts on police and fire services; and mitigation of other potential impacts.

“Mike O’Brien is battle-tested; he’s a Grade A negotiator,” Mr. Rushton said. “We don’t have all the answers and that’s why the public needs to be given an opportunity to offer its input on this early in the process.”

State Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby has said the current schedule calls for the commission to award the sole slot parlor license by December, in advance of three casino licenses.

But Mr. Rushton said there is a possibility that the slots license could be awarded possibly as early as September and, as a result, feels the city needs to move as soon as possible on holding public hearings.

After a proposed host agreement is worked out, a local referendum to approve or reject the plan will be put before voters within 60 to 90 days.